Design Issues Kindle 2

IFSM 303 Human Factors
Topics
What's Wrong with This?
Results
Experiment
Balancing Function and Fashion
"If it's a feature you can't find, it might as
well not be a feature."
- Greg Sullivan, Microsoft
Today’s Experiment
Group 3
What do you have for us?
Group Activities
Experiment
Research
Testing
Results
Why is this TV
Designed like
this?
Application
Prototypes - Paper, Physical,
Simulated
The Kindle 2
Design Issues
Two Videos from Amazon
Kindle 2 Overview
Kindle 2
Kindle 2 Testimonials
Kindle - Not all books are 9.99
And this book....
Kindle 2 Text to Speech
The president of the Authors Guild wrote in the NY
Times about how the Kindle 2 provides
Text-to-Speech capabilities that allows the user to
have any text on the Kindle read aloud.
Roy Blunt, Jr. moans that this is copyright
infringement of audio books, and that Kindle users
should be forced to pay royalties on audio even
though they've already paid for the text version of
a book. He harps on about how TTS technology
has become so good that it may replace humans.
How Good is TTS? Pretty Good
Classic
Apple (2005) TTS Fred
Apple (2005) TTS Vicki
Kindle
Geek.com (2009) Kindle Demo
Kindle 2 Text to Speech Demo
IBM Research
IBM (2009) Female Gettysburg Address.wav
IBM (2009) Male Gettysburg Address.wav
Amazon Caves
Amazon said that while the feature is legally
sound, they would be willing to disable
text-to-speech on a title-by-title basis at the
rightsholder's request. "We have already begun
to work on the technical changes required to
give authors and publishers that choice. With
this new level of control, publishers and authors
will be able to decide for themselves whether it
is in their commercial interests to leave
text-to-speech enabled. We believe many will
decide that it is."
Text to Speech
Issues
There is a
history of trying
to control TTS.
Here is an
Adobe digital
editions of Alice
in Wonderland.
Concerns
Are publishers, authors, and other
organizations try to exert too much
control or just trying to protect their
property?
What do you think?
HCI In the News
Ford Motor Company
Design Issues
Simulating
Old People
How do Senior Citizens Drive?
Third Age Suit - Ages 30 years
- glasses (which mimic cataracts and
create glare)
- wrist restrictors (which simulate
stiffness and arthritis)
- foot pads (which slow reflexes on
the brake pedal).
- reduce hearing
The Suit
Why?
Why is Ford going to all this trouble?
In part, it's economics.
59 million drivers over age 50
Make up 40% new car buyers
Their numbers are growing
Ford Motor Company
"It's one thing to read customer
feedback in a marketing study," said
Vivek Bhise, Manager, Human Factors
and Ergonomics for Ford. "It's a whole
different thing to feel what they're feeling
while driving a car. This has been a real
eye-opener for our engineers."
Error Messages
Chapter 13
What?
HCI Video
The Cooltown
project at HP Labs
applies Web
technology to
develop systems
that support the
users of wireless, handheld devices
interacting with their environment,
anywhere they may be.
Better Error Messages
Syntax Error
Unmatched left parenthesis
FAC RJCT 0040044004400
Balancing Function
and Fashion
Syntax Error
Invalid Input
Day range from 1 to 31
<BEEEEEPPPPPP!>
Constructive, Recommend Action
Hostile Messages
Violent terminology can disturb
nontechnical users:
FATAL ERROR
RUN ABORTED
CATASTROPHIC ERROR
negative terms such as
ILLEGAL, ERROR, INVALID, BAD
Which is Better?
A. Illegal telephone number. Call
aborted. Error number 583-2R6.9.
Consult your user manual for further
information.
B. We’re sorry, but we are unable to
complete your call as dialed.
Please hang up, check your
number, or consult the operator for
assistance
System Message Guidelines
Increase Attention to Message Design
Establish Quality Control
Develop Guidelines
Carry out Usability Tests
Collect User Performance Data
Appropriate physical layout
Use uppercase-only messages for brief,
serious warnings
Avoid code numbers; if required, include
at end of message
Location of message could be
near where problem arose
placed in consistent position
pop-up dialog box
audio signals, but can embarrass
Non-Anthropomorphic Design
The Computer As Human
Issues
Levels of Help
Avoid Cute
Don’t Embarrass the User
Avoid Humanizing the Machine
Don't Personalize
Concerns
Attributions of intelligence, autonomy,
free will, etc. can confuse, and
mislead users
Important to clarify differences between
people and computers
Although attractive to some people, can
produce anxiety in others
Mumford's studies strongly suggest
nonanthropomorphic is better
Not amusing for long
Guidelines
Avoid presenting computers as people.
Display Design
Mullet and Sano's (cont.)
Module and Program: focus, flexibility,
and consistent application
Image and Representation: immediacy,
generality, cohesiveness, and
characterization
Style: distinctiveness, integrity,
comprehensiveness, and
appropriateness
Field layout
Blanks and separate lines can
distinguish fields.
Empirical results
Structured form superior to narrative
form
Empirical results
Performance times improve with fewer,
denser displays in expert users
Screen contents should contain only
task-relevant information
Consistent location, structure, and
terminology across displays important
Mullet and Sano's design principles:
Elegance and Simplicity: unity,
refinement and fitness
Scale, Contrast, and Proportion: clarity,
harmony, activity, and restraint
Organization and Visual Structure:
grouping, hierarchy, relationship, and
balance
Field layout
Distinguish labels
from data with case,
boldfacing, etc.
If boxes are
available they can
be used to make a
more appealing
display, but they
consume screen
space.
Choose appropriate humans for
introductions or guides.
Use caution in designing
computer-generated human faces or
cartoon characters.
Improving Performance
data labels
clustering related information
appropriate indentation/underline
aligning numeric values
eliminating extraneous chars.
Guidelines
Design comprehensible, predictable,
and controllable interfaces.
Do not use 'I' pronouns when the
computer responds.
Use "you" to guide users, or just state
facts.
Names in chronological order, alignment
of dates, familiar date separators.
Labels are helpful for all but frequent
users.
Display-complexity metrics
Tullis Display Test
Tullis developed four task-independent
metrics for alphanumeric displays:
Overall Density
Local Density
Grouping
Layout Complexity
Layout Appropriateness
Display Characteristics
Tullis Display Test
Arranging
Information
Arranging Information
Multiple Windows
- Users need to consult multiple sources
rapidly
- Must minimally disrupt user's task
- With large displays, eye-head
movement & visibility are problems
- With small displays, windows too small
to be effective
Multiple Windows
- Reduce window housekeeping
- opening, closing, moving,
changing size
- time spent manipulating windows
instead of on task
- Can apply direct-manipulation strategy
to windows
- Rooms - enables users to specify
actions on several windows at once
Multiple Window Strategies
Window Features
Text
Titles
Graphics
Borders / Frames
Windows
Scroll Bars
Windows Housekeeping
Controls
Window Actions
Open
Open Position and Size
Resize
Close
Bring Forward
Image Browsing and Tightly-coupled
Windows
Design for image browsers should be
governed by the user's tasks:
Image generation
Open-ended exploration
Diagnostic
Navigation
Monitoring
Windows Features
Multiple Window Design
Multiple Monitors
Rapid Display Flipping
Split Displays
Fixed / Variable size/place
Piles
Panning
Zooming
Overlaps
Cascades
Coordination of Multiple Windows
Synchronized Scrolling
Image Zooming
Fisheye View of Data
Zoom factors: 5-30
Intermediate views are needed
Semantic zooming
Side by side placement, vs fisheye view
Hierarchical Browsing
Direct Selection
Dependent Window
Saving Window State
Question
What does an
out-of-work
engineering
draughtsman living
in London in 1931,
and who died in
1974 have to do
with the Seoul City
Subway?
Harry Beck
Tube maps drawn in a
realistic, but confusing,
manner.
Beck's Tube Map
In 1933, Beck
redesigned the
map, with a more
logical design
It's Not Perfect...
To go from Bank Station to Mansion
House, according to the map, you would
board a Central Line train to Liverpool
Street,
transfer to the
Circle Line
and continue
for another
five stops to
Mansion
House.
The End Results
Real London Tube Map
Seoul Subway Map
London Tube Map Today
At which point you would emerge 200
yards down the street from the location
they'd started at.
It would have been faster and cheaper
to walk...
Some people indicate that they have
problems with this map... but it is now
used all over the world.
Personal Role Management and Elastic
Windows
Focus on Tasks, not Windows
Vision statement
Set of people
Task hierarchy
Schedule
Linux: Virtual Desktops
Colors
Arrange Tasks by desktops
Quick Switching
Red
Violet
The Color Spectrum
Color can
Soothe or strike the eye
Add accents to a display
Facilitate subtle discriminations in
complex displays
Emphasize the logical organization of
information
Draw attention to warnings
Evoke strong emotional reactions of joy,
excitement, fear, or anger
Color Guidelines
Center Squares same Size/Color?
Cultural Color Differences
Avoid Extremes of Spectrum
Use Conservatively
Limit the number of Colors
Color Coding
Allow users to control Colors
Common Expectations
Design for monochrome first
Color
can play
Tricks
Colors
can play
Tricks
Color
can play
Tricks
Our Eyes can play tricks
Other Illusions
Stepping Feet
Bounce
Checker Shadow
Fraser Spiral
Hering Circles
Motion Induced Blindness
Muelue Line Length
Munk White
End of This Lesson